Newsgroups: biz.config,news.groups,news.answers Path: bloom-beacon.mit.edu!hookup!nntp.cs.ubc.ca!psgrain!xenitec!edhew From: edhew@xenitec.on.ca (Ed Hew) Subject: Biz.* Frequently Asked Questions (FAQ) Expires: Sat, 30 Apr 1994 23:59:59 GMT Reply-To: edhew@xenitec.on.ca (Ed Hew) Organization: XeniTec Consulting Services, Kitchener, ON, Canada Date: Tue, 22 Mar 1994 05:37:26 GMT Approved: news-answers-request@MIT.Edu Message-ID: <1994Mar22.053726.28740@xenitec.on.ca> Followup-To: poster Summary: Answers to frequently asked questions about biz.* (periodic posting) Supercedes: <1994Feb26.013438.25868@xenitec.on.ca> Keywords: biz, faq Lines: 328 Xref: bloom-beacon.mit.edu biz.config:65 news.groups:42057 news.answers:16725 Archive-name: biz-config-faq X-Posting-Frequency: monthly X-Version: 1.00b X-First-Draft: Wed Jun 30 22:54:05 EDT 1993 X-Revised: Mon Mar 07 13:34:12 EST 1994 The "biz" FAQ This posting provides an introduction to the biz.* newsgroups, and answers to frequently asked questions (FAQs) about biz.*. This article is repeated periodically for the benefit of new readers. ---------------------------------------------------------------------- Subject: Table of contents. Subject: What is the biz hierarchy, anyways? Subject: Who created biz? Subject: What groups already exist on biz? Subject: How can I receive a feed of the biz groups? Subject: What is the group creation process on biz? Subject: What is the charter of biz.config? Subject: What types of groups would be more suitable for biz than USENET? Subject: What is considered good net.etiquette on biz.*? Subject: Are the biz groups archived anywhere? Subject: Are the biz groups available as a mailing list? Subject: What about gopher, wais, mosaic (and the like) servers for biz? Subject: Contributions to biz.config FAQ. ------------------------------ Subject: What is the biz hierarchy, anyways? "Biz" is a hierarchy of newsgroups that are carried and propagated by sites interested in the world of business products around them -- in particular, computer products and services. This includes product announcements, announcements of fixes and enhancements, product reviews, and postings of demo software. While not supporting the electronic equivalent of a newspaper ad, the "biz" hierarchy is specifically intended to carry traffic of a commercial, factual, and often technical nature. Thus, some sites that operate under restrictions against carrying such traffic may not be able to carry the hierarchy. ------------------------------ Subject: Who created biz? Karl Denninger (karl@MCS.COM) formed biz in the late '80s in response to a rather large net.discussion over the proper place (if indeed there was any at the time) for people to post things that were blatently commercial. To quote Karl, "I believe it was 87 or 88, but I don't have an exact date". The result was the creation of biz.*; "ddsw1", the forefather of the current MCSNet machines (with pieces and parts still in use) was the first "hub" of distribution. MCS maintained "free on request" access to anyone who would poll for a couple of years. A few people did, and the groups got picked up by a reasonably large percentage of the net. There are many sites which do not carry the groups for reasons of AUP-fear or local politics, or just because they don't want to pay for commercial traffic. Volume is typically low and the information content is reasonably good. Subsequent to it's inception, various biz sub-hierarchies have appeared where content is actually quite strictly regulated and which explicitly exclude commercial ads (as differentiated from informational postings). ------------------------------ Subject: What groups already exist on biz? A number of groups have been created under several sub-classifications. The original intention of the sub-classifications may have been to encourage creation of subgroups under (for instance) biz.comp.software.* and biz.comp.hardware.*. The second-level tag has since become more generalized, such as "jobs", or a specific manufacturer's name. As the hierarchy continues to evolve, there is some inconsistency. The valid "biz" newsgroup list, as of Feb 25, 1994: biz.americast AmeriCast announcements. biz.americast.samples Samples of AmeriCast. (Moderated) biz.books.technical Technical bookstore & publisher advertising & info. biz.clarinet Announcements about ClariNet. biz.clarinet.sample Samples of ClariNet newsgroups for the outside world. biz.comp.hardware Generic commercial hardware postings. biz.comp.services Generic commercial service postings. biz.comp.software Generic commercial software postings. biz.comp.telebit Support of the Telebit modem. biz.comp.telebit.netblazer The Telebit Netblazer. biz.config Biz Usenet configuration and administration. biz.dec DEC equipment & software. biz.dec.decathena DECathena discussions. biz.dec.decnews The DECNews newsletter. (Moderated) biz.dec.ip IP networking on DEC machines. biz.dec.workstations DEC workstation discussions & info. biz.digex.announce Announcements from Digex. (Moderated) biz.jobs.offered Position announcements. biz.misc Miscellaneous postings of a commercial nature. biz.next.newprod New product announcements for the NeXT. biz.oreilly.announce New product announcements from O'Reilly and Associates (Moderated) biz.pagesat For discussion of the Pagesat Satellite Usenet Newsfeed. biz.sco.announce SCO and related product announcements. (Moderated) biz.sco.binaries Binary packages for SCO Xenix, UNIX, or ODT. (Moderated) biz.sco.general Q&A, discussions and comments on SCO products. biz.sco.magazine To discuss SCO Magazine and its contents. biz.sco.opendesktop ODT environment and applications tech info, q&a. biz.sco.sources Source code ported to an SCO operating environment. (Moderated) biz.sco.wserver SCO widget server questions, answers and discussion. biz.stolen Postings about stolen merchandise. biz.tadpole.sparcbook Discussions on the Sparcbook portable computer. biz.test Biz newsgroup test messages. biz.univel.misc Discussions and comments on Univel products. biz.zeos.announce Zeos Product Announcements. (Moderated) biz.zeos.general Zeos technical support and general information. ------------------------------ Subject: How can I receive a feed of the biz groups? NNTP feeds of "biz" may be obtained from, among others: hookup.net (Murray S. Kucherawy) news.mcs.com (Karl Denninger) openage.com (Paul Fischer) rain.psg.com (Randy Bush) s.ms.uky.edu (Kenneth Herron) uunet.uu.net (UUNET Customer Liaison) xenitec.on.ca (Ed Hew) UUCP feeds of "biz" may be obtained from, among others: excelsior.com (Tim Tyhurst) news.mcs.com (Karl Denninger) uunet.uu.net (UUNET Customer Liaison) xenitec.on.ca (Ed Hew) Propagation of the hierarchy isn't as widespread as the mainstream USENET, but it is growing. The news admins listed above have made and continue to make a concerted effort to enhance global biz propagation and to reduce its geographic fragmentation. An inquiry to the appropriate news admin is suggested, as feed availability may vary from time to time and from host to host. Note that commercial service providers and others may charge a fee for service and connectivity -- again, ask. Those having difficulty getting biz feeds, especially outside of North America, are encouraged to write to either the undersigned or the contacts listed above, so that we can help you get a feed. ------------------------------ Subject: What is the group creation process on biz? The group creation process on biz is much looser than the "standard" hierarchy. To some extent this reflects that fact that biz is an ongoing experiment-in-process. Basically, one states one's intention to start a new group on biz.config, e.g., "I intend to start biz.foo in a week or so, barring serious objections." On occasion, objections are made that should be taken under advisement, generally for naming reasons (i.e. consistency with existing groups either in biz or USENET), unnecessary duplication with other groups, and so forth. Many folks choose to cross-post these discussions to USENET group news.groups to get a wider audience; however, one might suggest that on such postings, the Followup-to line be set to biz.config _only_. Note that some biz sub-hierarchies are managed, and that creation of new newsgroups within them requires the agreement of the respective responsible party (eg, biz.sco.*). Check the FAQ for the sub-hierarchy, locate and contact that individual, and ask them to follow the biz creation process. Q&A: >Uh, I don't pretend to be a USENET know-it-all, but don't you need to >make this an RFD, then hold a CFV, then a final ACK, then do the >newgroup? Or is the biz. hierarchy like alt. in that anyone can >create a new newsgroup? Neither. The biz hierarchy has its own peculiar set of rules, which have evolved from necessity and common sense over the years. In theory, anyone can issue a newgroup message on a whim. However, that doesn't necessarily mean that it will be either widely honored, or that the new newsgroup will actually be propagated to any useful degree! In practice, creation of new 'biz' newsgroups is normally handled as follows: 1. private discussion between interested parties to the resolution that the new newsgroup has a likelihood of success. 2. you contact the key hostmasters who handle the vast majority of biz propagation to ensure that the suggested newsgroup will be indeed be propagated, particularly those who control the NNTP links that bring disparate chunks of geographic biz propagation together. 3. publicly post the suggested charter to biz.config (you may optionally crosspost to news.groups if you're brave). Indicate your intention to create, barring strenuous or widespread objections. Convert those who post opposition to a position of tacit agreement at minimum; if you can't do that, consider going back to step 1. 4. Wait about two weeks, and, if the newsgroup is not within a sub-hierarchy under the auspices of a given individual, issue the newgroup control message, otherwise ask the party responsible to do so for you. Ask one or more biz backbone hosts admins to support your newgroup with their own newgroup messages. 5. Send email to the maintainer of this FAQ to ensure that your new biz newsgroup is listed! ------------------------------ Subject: What is the charter of biz.config? The charter of biz.config is to serve as the controlling newsgroup for discussion of new biz groups, connectivity, propagation, policy, and the like. Note that the canonical newsgroups entry is: biz.config Biz Usenet configuration and administration. Note the somewhat ambiguous use of "Usenet" in this description. In this FAQ, the usage USENET means the comp/misc/news/rec/sci/soc/talk hierarchies, aka "mainstream USENET". Many people, including whoever originally wrote the description line, use "Usenet" to loosely mean, "interconnected newsgroup hierarchies and/or distributions propagated via B News compatible mechanisms.", and now encompassing a multitude of NTAs (News Transport Agents) within the "greater internet". One goal of this FAQ is to clarify in people's minds the distinction between the transport mechanism and the sets of networks (plural) carried over them. To summarize, the description should probably just refer to the "Biz net." ------------------------------ Subject: What types of groups would be more suitable for biz than USENET? Any group that intends to include specifically commercial announcements from businesses, concerning their main products or focus, would more properly fit the charter of the biz newsgroups. Expert technical content from a specific vendor's staff is also most appropriate within biz, noting that some in the "mainstream USENET" frown upon anything that might be considered tainted by vendor participation even for the informational aspect provided. This has proven to free many who have the knowledge, to post valuable insight into the products they develop and work with. ------------------------------ Subject: What is considered good net.etiquette on biz.*? Here are some etiquette reminders that will help us all to make the hierarchy an ever-friendlier place: -- Please, before posting, ensure that you've read the basic USENET etiquette guide in news.announce.newusers. Ensure that you are also familiar with the newsgroup charter and acceptable content. -- Is your posting so blatantly an advertisement that it goes beyond the bounds of being "informational", and hence may cause many users or sites to restrict their participation in "biz"? If so, tone it down! Keep it factual. Edit out the hype. Product and service announcements are welcome within specific biz "announce" newsgroups (e.g., biz.sco.announce). Check the newsgroup charter, and the availability of a specific "announce" newsgroup before posting. -- "So, where do I place my blatant commercial ads?" From time to time, an "ads" hierarchy has been proposed. If you need such, create it! You may also find that certain biz newsgroups may tolerate private ads to some extent - check their charters and monitor their content. -- Remember that biz isn't the mainstream USENET. The rules of the comp/misc/news/rec/sci/soc/talk hierarchies do not necessarily apply here. However, those guidelines that are mostly net.common.sense should probably always be taken to heart. -- Remember that biz is a volunteer network. All the code, maintenance, and question-answering are maintained by folks who freely give their time to help the net. Please consider this and treat them accordingly. Be as precise as possible so that overworked knowledgeable people will not waste time trying to solve the wrong problem when trying to help you. ------------------------------ Subject: Are the biz groups archived anywhere? Selective biz newsgroup archives are maintained at various publicly accessible archive sites, not necessarily limited to: telly.on.ca (Evan Liebovitch) ftp.xenitec.on.ca (Ed Hew) wimsey.com (Stuart Lynn) ------------------------------ Subject: Are the biz groups available as a mailing list? Selectively, yes. Check the FAQs in respective biz newsgroups for further information. For example, many biz.sco.* newsgroups are historically bi-directionally gated to mailing lists. ------------------------------ Subject: What about gopher, wais, mosaic (and the like) servers for biz? A number of servers are under construction and will be listed as they become operational. Currently operational: WWW (mosaic) URL: http://www.xenitec.on.ca/ ------------------------------ Subject: Contributions to biz.config FAQ. Many thanks to the following for their contributions: Karl Denninger Kenneth Herron David C Lawrence Mark Linimon Murray S. Kucherawy Catherine E. Stanton Tim Tyhurst This posting, like much of net.land, is maintained on a purely volunteer basis. I welcome reactions, additions, and corrections, via email. -- Ed. A. Hew, ....!uunet.ca!xenitec!eah XeniTec Consulting Services, Kitchener ON, Canada +1 519 570 9848